Please wait as we prepare your PDF file ....

Mission Chronicle Blog

Search Blog

our goal is to help you stay informed by providing timely and interesting articles.

Bankrate successor to pay $28M in fines for fraud scheme

03/07/2019

Download PDF

Baton Holdings, the successor company to financial services and marketing company Bankrate, has agreed to pay $28 million in fines to resolve a government investigation into accounting and a securities fraud scheme carried out by former executives.

In settlement documents with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Bankrate admitted former executives engaged in a scheme to artificially inflate the company’s earnings. The executives are said to have purposefully left millions in unsupported expense accruals on the company’s books and then selectively reversed them in subsequent quarters to boost company earnings, according to the DOJ.

As a result of the investigation, Bankrate’s former chief financial officer Edward Maria pleaded guilty for his role in the scheme and was sentenced to 10 years in prison and ordered to pay $21 million in restitution. Hyunjin Lerner, Bankrate’s former vice president of finance, also pleaded guilty for his involvement and was sentenced to 30 months in prison and ordered to pay $21 million in restitution.

“Today’s resolution with Bankrate’s successor in interest – together with the previously announced convictions of the company’s CFO and vice president of finance – closes the books on an accounting fraud that caused more than $25 million in losses to the company’s shareholders,” Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski said in a statement. “This case reflects the Department’s commitment to holding both individuals and institutions accountable for fraudulent conduct, and to obtaining restitution for the victims of fraud.”

Former Bankrate executives also misrepresented certain company expenses as “deal costs” in an effort to inflate publicly reported earnings metrics and subsequently lied about those earnings to independent auditors.

The fraudulent conduct, according to DOJ, cost Bankrate’s shareholders at least $25 million in losses.

Tried and true: email marketing is still king of the hill Easily craft vital, targeted email campaigns with MoxiEngage CRM READ MORE

Bankrate is a financial services and marketing firm that allows consumers to compare mortgage and credit card rates. Their website also provides financial literacy tools to help consumers build wealth and understand various loan options.

Email Patrick Kearns

Source: click here

Read More

INSPIRED, INTELLIGENT, INSIGHTFULL

STAY INFORMED WITH TIMELY AND INTERESTING ARTICLES FROM OUR BLOG, MISSION CHRONICLE. OUR ASPIRATION IS TO PROVIDE REALTORS AND OTHER REAL ESTATE INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS WITH EXCEPTIONAL RESOURCES AND SHARE OUR KNOWLEDGE TO PROPEL YOU TO YOUR GOALS.

  • Mission Chronicle Newsletter July 24, 2023

    Mortgage rates continued to press downward last week after the previous week's CPI data pointed to e...

  • Mission Chronicle Newsletter Feb 20, 2023

    Despite the recent downward trend in mortgage rates and hopes that the Fed was nearing the end of it...

  • Mission Chronicle Newsletter Feb 6, 2023

    The Federal Reserve meeting ended as market participants expected, with a quarter-point increase and...

  • Mission Chronicle Newsletter Dec 26, 2022

    Mortgage rates held relatively steady last week as most economic news came in better than expected.C...

  • Mission Chronicle Newsletter Dec 12, 2022

    Rates managed to move slightly downward last week as recession fears grew amid hopes that the Fedis ...

  • Mission Chronicle Newsletter Dec 5th 2022

    Mission Chronicle Newsletter Dec 5th 2022. Platforms: Browser, mobile-responsiveIdeal for: Leasing a...

  • Inman Review: Tenants and leasing teams get better connected with RentTango

    Have suggestions for products that you’d like to see reviewed by our real estate technology ex...

  • Tech Review: Smart Alto puts people first in its innovative lead qualification solution

    Have suggestions for products that you’d like to see reviewed by our real estate technology ex...

  • Refreshed and nurture-savvy, Market Leader’s CRM deserves your attention

    Have suggestions for products that you’d like to see reviewed by our real estate technology ex...

  • The top 4 tips to improve your negotiation skills

    In today’s luxury real estate market, strong negotiation skills are an asset—you might even say ...

March 2024
Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031

  • Polls

    What information you are looking for?

    View Results

    Loading ... Loading ...
  • Last month Results

    How Is My Site?

    • Good (100%, 3 Votes)
    • Excellent (0%, 0 Votes)
    • Bad (0%, 0 Votes)
    • Can Be Improved (0%, 0 Votes)
    • No Comments (0%, 0 Votes)

    Total Voters: 3

    Vote

    Loading ... Loading ...